I'll Say
by Bendleshnitz
Summary: 'One kiss breaches the distance between friendship and love'. Or it may just ruin the friendship. What would it be for Rose? Originally written as a gift for a fest. -someone suggested I change the rating from K to T, so just in case...-


**Title:** I'll Say  
**Pairing(s):** Rose Weasley/Scorpius Malfoy  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Word Count:** 2533  
**Betas:** **tania_sings** and **luvscharlie** (thank you, guys!)  
**Warnings:** Lots of banter, minor language.  
**Summary:** 'One kiss breaches the distance between friendship and love'. Or it may just screw the friendship. What would it be for Rose?  
**Disclaimer:** All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**Author's/Artist's notes:** Originally written as a gift for **inadaze22** on **hp_nextgen_fest** . Parts in italics are flashbacks from Rosie's dinner with her cousins. **inadaze22** asked for lots of banter and unique characters. I also included two of the three prompt she offered: "Love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning." – Unknown and "One kiss breaches the distance between friendship and love" – Unknown.

* * *

**I'll Say**

Scorpius had just finished cleaning up the mess he had made in potions. He couldn't believe he thought even for one second that chopping the flower roots into four big pieces instead of mashing them would be harmless to the potion.

Professor Williams didn't even flinch when he saw all the green-blueish, sticky goo all over the walls, floor and desks.

"You'll clean all this the muggle way, Mr. Malfoy," was all the old man said.

And so he did. Desk by desk, spot after spot. The goo was so hard to clean off that the punishment took longer than Scorpius and Mr. Williams were expecting.

"Hey," a soft voice whispered from the door.

"Rose," he said with a small smile on his face.

"You missed dinner."

"Oh, man...! Really? It's 7:30 already?"

"A quarter to eight actually." Rose entered the classroom, closing the door behind her. "See, that's what happens when you try to take the lazy way out and you don't follow rules - or instructions, for that matter..." she said, hopping over a desk in the middle of the room.

"Yeah... you are one to talk. I don't see _you_ following the rules, Weasley," said Scorpius with a dramatic voice.

"I _do_ follow the rules!"

"No, you don't." He laughed.

"Yes, I do."

"You don't."

"I do."

"No, you _don't_!" Scorpius couldn't believe how he always found himself lowered to her level and answering like the eleven-year-old she clearly still was. "You have more detentions on your record than any Ravenclaw ever did," he reasoned, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, yeah... that's what they say. I'm not so sure though. I bet there were some pretty sneaky Ravenclaws last century." She started balancing on her toes. "Anyway, Scorpius, I can _bend_ rules." Rose never used the word 'break' since that would be admitting that everyone was right. "But I'm not so daft. You should know better than changing the instructions for a potion. Honestly, who would try something like that after six years of Potions?" She giggled at the idea.

"Well, I would. And I did. Am I stupid then?" Rose made a face but he went on. "Look, just because I did _one_ little thing without thinking doesn't make me as daft and careless as you." His anger made him point a finger at her face as he spoke firmly. His eyes showed nothing but frustration at her attitude.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes.

Scorpius couldn't believe her. She was infuriating. He had never met such an obnoxious girl in his life. He scowled trying to contain himself. _She's a girl. Never hit a girl. Mother would hex your balls off if you did._ He sighed after counting to ten. No, ten wasn't enough with Rose. He continued to twenty.

"Why are you here?" he asked suddenly. "You came here just to make fun of me and infuriate me until I want to pull my hair out with my bare hands, didn't you? Because I'm this close to doing it." He held his hand in front of her face, keeping less than an inch of space between his thumb and index finger.

She sighed. She looked... bored. How could she be so calm and bored when I was about to scream with frustration?

"Brought you dinner. Came to check on you. Hoped we could talk." She enumerated with her fingers, her eyes focused on the ceiling.

"Really?"

She nodded.

A few seconds passed in silence as they stared at each other, before Scorpius said, "I don't think you did a good job on the first one."

She smirked, taking a little napkin perfectly folded from under her sweater. Scorpius gulped. She was hiding his dinner near her bra. The perky, round tits that he had noticed more than once in the last year had been right next to his meal. He had to admit that no meal looked as delicious as those bouncy breasts though.

"Stop staring. It's not my fault my uniform doesn't have any pockets." The tips of her lips quivered in amusement, betraying her attempt at looking offended.

"Not my fault. You're the one bringing the attention to... them." His voice sounded hoarse.

"I did not do any such thing! I'm just using my last resort of sneaking food for my famished git friend," Rose huffed, now really offended.

"Yeah? And how do you justify the cleavage you added magically to your muggle clothes?" He snickered.

Unfolding the napkin, she engorged the contents with her wand. "How did you know--?" She sighed. "Mind your own business, Malfoy," she said curtly.

"How can I, when you do everything in your power to make every stupid teenager in Hogwarts drool on weekends?" He laughed.

"Just like I do when I don't mention to my girlfriends that you use potions to avoid acne and that you shave your legs."

Scorpius' laugh stopped abruptly at this piece of information. "How did you know--?" He stared at her, wide eyed. His mouth opened and closed but he could form no words.

"Stop that - you look like a fish out of the water." She waved a dismissive hand and started pinching a piece of bread.

"But..._How_? It's not possible for you to—" Staring at a random desk, his eyes flickered with curiosity and embarrassment as he searched for an answer in his brain. She had no way of knowing those things.

"I have my ways..." Rose smiled smugly. "Anyway, aren't you going to eat your dinner? The chicken is really good." She had been nibbling at his food and eating it little by little.

"Hey, stop eating it yourself then! Didn't you eat enough already?" She just shrugged. "You eat like a troll... It's impossible for someone so thin to eat all tha—"

"Got my dad's metabolism... and appetite, according to my mum. He's still very thin and has been eating probably half the food in Europe since he was thirteen."

"Well, that's not normal." He reasoned, arching an eyebrow as he started eating the peas beside the roasted chicken.

"We are Weasleys. Normal is not a word in our vocabularies."

"I'll say..." he muttered softly.

Rose heard him, smacked his arm playfully and shrugged before saying, "Yeah well. Malfoys aren't normal either."

"What? What's not normal about us, huh?" he challenged, throwing a pea at her head.

"Hey!" She scowled, throwing a piece of bread back. "For one, normal people aren't _this_ arrogant—"

"You'd know..."

She ignored his comment and continued, smirking. "And, having such pale skin even after staying seventeen years under the sun playing Quidditch is not... not normal," she finished, clearly lacking words as she stared at his face intently.

"You're saying I'm not normal because of my _skin_? That doesn't make any sense, Rose."

She kept staring, her eyes a darker shade (_or was he just imagining that?_) as she wet her lips with her pink tongue.

"Do I have something on my face?" He scowled internally at his reaction. Why did he have to act like such a childish git with her?

Rose instantly moved her eyes, now staring at the floor. Her ears became a redish colour.

Scorpius chuckled. "What? Liked what you saw?" Her head snapped up immediately, looking at him in the eyes. He kept the playful act and winked at her.

"Ha ha. Like I'd—" she started, sounding mocking, like always.

_"Trust me. You'll find a way. Just when the conversation gets all flirty and double-meaning-y." Lily paused to refill her plate with another serving of mashed potatoes. "All your conversations with him end up that way at some point. I swear I'll never understand your dynamic, but if it works for you..." She shrugged._

_"So, you say I should tell him when he makes a flirty comment?" Rose arched an eyebrow in disbelief._

_"Yep. Just because it sounds like something the two of you would do. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. But I think it's time you stop acting like the prude, shy girl you are not and just spill it out."_

_"Gee, thanks cousin." Rose rolled her eyes._

_"You're welcome." She smiled back before continuing eating her meal._

Rose stopped mid-sentence. Both stood in silence for a few seconds before she said, "You know, actually, I do."

Shock was clear in Scorpius' face. His grey eyes were wider than Rose had ever seen them. "W-w-w-what?" he stuttered.

_"I think it's a horrible idea. Men are women are not genetically prepared to be friends. Of course, each rule has exceptions. You and Malfoy are said exception." Roxie explained, her tone businesslike. "If you tell him you want to shag his brains out, it'll all go down the drain. Trust me. Unless you want you and your friendship co-living with stinky pieces of soap, dirt and hair... don't throw years of effort down the shower drain." Rose opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Roxanne said curtly, "I know being his friend was an effort, don't deny it; the guy is a pain in the arse, Rose."_

_Rose stared at her cousin wide eyed, processing everything she said. It didn't take much effort to come to the conclusion. "She's right," Rose whispered in horror and defeat._

_"Wha—No. No, no! No, Rosie. Listen to me carefully. Roxanne is not right. What's all this? You admitting someone's right? No way. Nu-uh." Lily shook her head furiously, staring at Rosie's eyes intently. "You, I and everyone else knows that won't happen. Scorpius is crazy about you—"_

_"That's true," Lucy murmured, not even looking up from her plate._

_"See? Besides, you can't chicken out anymore. It's not in your blood. You need to be brave—"_

_"I'm not a Gryffindor, Lily."_

_"I'm not talking about Houses, Rose. I'm talking about you and your personality. You're brave. You don't fool around with stupid doubts and fears. If you want something you go and get it." Lily stretched out her hand to Rose's. "No need to stop being the fun, forward and fearless girl I love so much after all these years, right?"_

_Rose smiled at Lily. "What do you think, Lucy?" Rosie turned in her seat to look at her quiet cousin. Lucy was not much of a talker. She preferred observing, analyzing and then, when the time was right, voicing her opinion._

_"I think that one kiss breaches the distance between friendship and love, and you have all the numbers to win this raffle," she said enigmatically, but kindly at the same time. _

_"O-kay... and what do you mea—" Rose started asking confused before Roxanne interrupted her._

_"I think it was a fuck."_

_"What?!" Lily asked, blushing for some reason._

_"That breach Lucy mentioned. I think the saying is 'one fuck breaches the distance between friendship and love'."_

_"It can't possibly be that..." Lily said dismissively._

_"No, it is a kiss, Roxie," Lucy said with a kind smile._

_"No, a fuck. I'll bet my broom on it."_

_"You'll lose. But I don't want your broom anyway. It's a kiss."_

"I'm tired, Scor." The nickname she barely used escaped without her noticing. "I was just going to say you have mustard on your lip, but I think Lily is right. Roxie didn't think it was a good idea, but I'll listen to Lucy. One fuck breaches the distance between friendship and love." She grabbed Scorpius' arms as she spoke, pulling him between her legs.

"I think it's a kiss," he whispered, still in shock.

"What?" she breathed against his lips. Now the distance between their mouths was less than an inch and Scorpius felt his heart beating faster in anticipation.

"A kiss," he whispered, brushing her lips with his so lightly that it was only a tingle against her lower lip. Unconsciously, Rose bit her bottom lip for a brief second before moistening her lips again. "The breach. From friendship... to love." He spoke against her gaping mouth with his eyes closed.

"O-of course, love is... it's just a word. I didn't mean—" And he got her. He knew what she meant. Because he felt the same way. He didn't know if what he felt for her was love exactly, but it was something much stronger than friendship. Both mentally and physically. He wanted her in both ways.

"I know. 'Love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning', someone said." Scorpius put his hands on either side of her narrow waist, pressing his forehead against hers.

"Who?" she breathed as their noses caressed each other.

"Some idiot that felt like we do now? I don't know..." He chuckled. In times like these he did understand why she was sorted into Ravenclaw. Her brain was constantly working. She was examining every single word, detail and move. Taking as much knowledge as possible all the time; never minding the circumstances or timing.

"Glad to know we're on the same page. I was..."

"Worried?" He lifted one hand to caress her neck, jaw and lips.

"Well, yeah..." She breathed a nervous laugh.

"Why?"

"You never made a move." She shrugged, throwing her arms around his neck.

"You've been single for the first time in ten months since last Tuesday... I'm not such a git," he explained. His hands moving over her body, caressing, touching, remembering.

"You know Ethan and Caleb were just... a back-up. Maybe practice?" she confessed, letting one of her hands drop to touch his chest through his shirt.

"Just like Haley was for me..." Scorpius lifted her shirt a bit to caress her flat stomach.

She giggled. "We are the same."

"Yes, we are dangerous," he said ,caressing her lower back.

"For other people. We may not be dangerous to each other." She unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt and touched the new exposed skin.

"Yeah, 'cause this is different." He nipped at her ear, making her hum softly.

"You know how I hate to say this, but you're right," she murmured, moving her head to give him more room to explore across her neck.

He laughed. "I really like you, Rose. As a friend and... as a girlfriend?"

She smirked. "Absolutely." Her eyes scanned his face. "I believe you still have mustard on your lip. May I?" she whispered with a slight smile on her face.

"Please," he chuckled once. His expression changing suddenly as Rose licked his upper lip with the tip of her tongue.

She hummed. "Delicious."

Scorpius groaned as he crushed his lips against her. He took her bottom lip inside his mouth, sucking on it until he felt her tongue pressing against his lip asking for entrance. Entrance that was granted with a loud moan from both of them as their tongues started a battle for dominance. Soon, the necessity of breathing was too strong to ignore any longer. They separated their lips but held tightly to the other. Their hands traced each other's body in a slow, loving way that seemed contrary to the passionate kisses of a few moments ago.

"Definitely delicious." Rose smirked.

Scorpius chuckled between gasps before capturing her lips in another sultry kiss. "I'll say..."


End file.
